LakesideStamper

Archive | SEASONAL: Spring

Cinco de Mayo—or the fifth of May—is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). A relatively minor holiday in Mexico. In the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations.

The day is celebrated in the state of Puebla with parades, speeches, and reenactments of the 1862 battle. In the mid-20th-century U.S., the celebration of Cinco de Mayo became among Mexican immigrants a way of encouraging pride in their Mexican heritage.

Cinco de Mayo is not to be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day, which falls on September 16. The latter holiday was established in 1810, some 50 years before the Battle of Puebla occurred.

PERFECT MARGARITA

It’s generally agreed that the components of a classic margarita are tequila, Cointreau is a brand of triple sec (an orange-flavoured liqueur) produced in France and fresh lime juice. But how much of each? The secret is proportions; balance accounts for the difference between a good drink and a bad one.

Shake all the ingredients with cracked ice in a cocktail shaker until the exterior frosts. Strain into a glass over rocks, into a cocktail glass. A slice of lime as a garnish, while not necessary, adds a nice touch

Now you might think that decorated eggs are only for Easter, when in fact they can be used all Spring. Eggs represent rebirth, hence Spring. And, when we think of Spring, we think of flowers. So, this egg is perfect to leave out all Spring!

The first thing you need to do is go to your local craft or fabric store and pick up styrofoam Eggs and Sequin Straight Pins. You can use regular straight pins, but Sequin Straight Pins are shorter and therefore they don’t interfere with each other when pushed into the styrofoam egg. The size of the eggs I purchased are 1-7/8″ x 2-1/2″. They come six in a package. And, the sequin pins I used have pearl heads.

Here’s what I did:

Begin this project by punching two different sized flowers in various Spring colors.

I punched small and large flowers from scraps of card stock I had. Some isn’t Stampin’ Up!, but I used those colors , because I love the neon colors. Each egg, with double flowers, took between 60~80 punch flowers.

With my Paper Piercer I pierced a small hole in the middle of each flower. You may be able to omit this part if the pins you’re using are strong enough to go through the card stock alone. But I found the pins just bent the flowers and didn’t pierced a hole in them.

Once the flowers were pierced, I stuck a sequin pin through the hole of a small and then a large flower, dabbed the pin in a little Tombow Glue, to hold it in the Styrofoam, and pushed it into the egg. You can place a Basic Rhinestone or Pearl in each flower if you use plan sequin pins.

When the whole egg was covered I cut about an 8″ piece of of Ribbon, folded it in half, dabbed some glue on the ends and with my Paper Piercer I poked it into the top of the egg.

Here’s another FLORAL EGG made four years ago. Have fun making these. You can use Red. White and Blue covered Styrofoam balls for July 4thor Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie for Halloween. This makes a great class project as well.

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This was a project we made at my last workshop. . Again, Spring was on everyone’s mind and new sprouting gardens. This wall-hanging would be a nice decor to any wall. What a thoughtful and pleasing gift this would make too. Once the component pieces were stamped they were then matted and adhered to this canvas panel. These panels can be found in any local craft store. They come in bundles of six for a very small price.

Stamp all the components on Whisper White Cardstock in the following inks:

This is such a fun project to make. You can purchase these paper mache or small wooden oval boxes at your local craft store. The inside diorama, can be filled with anything you want, providing the choice items fit! What’s a diorama you ask? Well, a diorama is a model representing a scene with three-dimensional figures, either in miniature or as a large scale museum exhibit. Clearly this diorama is a miniature one.

How to make this diorama:

Purchase a paper mache or wooden oval or circle box. The ones used in the workshop were approximately 3-1/4″ x 2-1/4″ Acrylic paint of choice.

1. Paint the paper mache box in a pretty spring color with an acrylic paint of choice. Set aside to dry.

2. Take some Whisper White Card Stock and with the Oval Collection Dies, trace the outside of the oval size that will fit inside your box. The class and I had to trace the outside of a die, because no oval, when run through the BIG Shot would fit exactly. However, when we traced and hand-cut one as shown, it fit perfectly. We just needed the metal border of the die to be included.

3. Once this oval was cut, stamp the floral image from the Serene Silhouettes Stamp Set with Certainly Celery and Wisteria Wonder Markers. Sponge the edge of the oval with a Sponge Dauber and Baja Breeze Ink.

4. With Primrose Petals Ink stamp the butterfly and cut it out.

5. Place a few dabs of Multi-Purpose Glue on the back of the oval and place in inside the box adhering it to the back of the box.

6. Now on the bottom rim of the oval box play around with miniature eggs, grass, a flower pot, or anything else you want to use. You can even stamp images and cut them out to use. Just have fun. Once you’re happy with your little diorama adhere everything in place with Glue, Sticky Tape or Dimensionals. Have patience while your diorama dries. Stand it upright with support. Oh, and don’t forget to place that butterfly somewhere!

7. To decorate the box lid, cut an oval using the Ovals Collection and the BIG Shot! Choose an oval size that works for your lid. Once cut place the oval in the Lacey Brocade Embossing Folder and emboss it.

8. Adhere the oval to the box lid with Multi-Purpose Glue.

9. Wrap a pieces of Scallop Pretty-In-Pink Ribbon around the lid tucking it in along the inside edge and bottom of the box.

10. Embellish with a pretty little bow and Basic Rhinestones.

Won’t people be surprised when they open this beautiful little Easter Box to find a diorama inside?

This is a project I made and featured last year, but never held the class because of our house fire. On Sunday I programmed these Easter Eggs for the lady’s who attended and they LOVED this project. .

This is a project that you can do with few supplies. This Easter Egg was made from scraps of card stock and before I go any further some of the colors are retired, but as I told you they were in my scrap box

The first thing you need to do is go to your local craft or fabric store and pick up styrofoam Eggs and Sequin Straight Pins. You can use regular straight pins, but Sequin Straight Pins are shorter and therefore they don’t interfere with each other when pushed into the styrofoam egg. The size of the eggs I purchased are 1-7/8″ x 2-1/2″. They come six in a package.

Begin this project by punching the smallest flower from the BoHo Blossoms Punch. You’ll need about 100 flowers in total.

Here’s what I did:

I punched about 20 flowers out of the following five card stocks, Orchid Opulence (retired), Pixie Pink (retired), Green Galore (retired), Daffodil Delight and Bashful Blue Card Stock with the BoHo Blossoms Punch. As mentioned earlier I punched only the smallest flower.

With my Paper Piercer I pierced a small hole in the middle of each flower. You may be able to omit this part if the pins you’re using are strong enough to go through the card stock alone. I stuck a sequin pin through the hole, dabbed it in a little Tombow Glue, to hold it in the styrofoam, and pushed it into the egg. You can place a Basic Rhinestone or Pearl in each flower. I left mine without them, because I like the way the pin heads look.

When the whole egg was covered I cut about an 8″ piece of of Pretty-In-Pink 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, folded it in half, dabbed some glue on the ends and with my Paper Piercer I poked it into the top of the egg. Then I made tow bows and attached them on the ribbon hanger with a few Glue Dots.

I’ll take a picture of this year’s egg, as soon as I finish mine. I changed the ribbon this year to the Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon. I also up-dated the colors to Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Pretty-in-Pink and Certainly Celery Card Stock. I’ll share the other projects we made at the class over the next two weeks, so check back soon.

More snow here in the Northeast-I firmly believe the groundhog was a bit off this year!!

And, don’t forget to sign up to receive my April Newsletter in my, “Welcome Basket!”

Today I’d like to share with you a Fabric Owl Canvas Project I created. I purchased four of these small 6″ x 6″ canvas’ on sale at my local craft store. I decided to use the canvas’ for a series of owl mix media pieces. Look to the future for three more in the series.

I started this Owl Canvas by applying different ink colors to the canvas. I used my ink refills and Stampin Up! Ink Pads along with Sponge Daubers. I love to just dab freely and from the look of my work space, I love making a mess!

I made a smaller pattern from my owl pillow to trace for this canvas owl. I placed Double sided Adhesive Sheets on the back of Stampin’ Up! Fabric, traced the pattern on to it, cut it out, peeled back the adhesive paper backing and burnished the Fabric Owl down on to the canvas with my Bone Folder. Once the owl was adhered to the canvas I added his eyes with some Stampin’ Up! retired Felt Flowers and two layers of buttons. Adorable!

To achieve a mixed media look, you simply build up different layers of Ink, Rub-On’s, Fabric, Buttons and even Stamped Images! there’s no wrong with this project. You just have to keep in mind that images don’t compete and there is a nice balance between all of your elements, including color and line weight. Here are some close- up’s of the canvas.

When you’re happy with your design, give the canvas a quick spray with a sealer or brush on some decoupage medium. Make sure to check out Stampin’ Up! Fabrics Here

I hope you’ve been inspired!

Many of my Stampin’ Up! supplies got more ruined then I first expected from the fire. I’m going to try, in the next week or so to get back to creating more projects to post on my blog. It’s very difficult since I have no real workspace or focus, but I’m going to try. I owe all of you at least that. I miss blogging, holding workshops and seeing all of you. Again, THANK YOU for all your emails.

If you want a shiny, glossy finish to your canvas, simply use some Crystal Effects. To achieve this, spread an even coat of, Crystal Effects over the canvas. With a brush or sponge brush spread the Crystal Effects all over your masterpiece. Take care to brush out any air bubbles. You can use more then one layer of Crystal Effects, just make sure each layer dries before applying another coat,

Spring? Here in the Northeast we have snow on the ground, yet again. Luckily I was able to hold my Stamp-A-Stack Saturday and that’s what’s keeping me smiling today. We had a fun day on Saturday and make so many cards. Everyone who attended came with their husbands, brothers and boyfriends. The guys hung out with my husband John at my daughter Megan’s house and then they joined us for dinner after the class. It was very nice and I’m grateful to everyone who attended. Over the next week I’ll share with you the many cards we made.

The first share is this set of Sweet Summer Boxed Gift Cards. When I first got this FREE Sale-A-Bration Stamp Set I thought it was nice, but now I adore it! It’s very versatile with all it’s small images which allows you to mix and match them in a variety of ways. After you stamp the images you then get to color them in any way you want. Here’s what I came up with for this set.

I had these boxes from a shop I owned years ago. Since I had them I thought how cute would it be to use and fill them with 3″ x 3″ gift cards? And, that’s exactly what I did. We made two of each of three designs.

For the first design, cut a 3″ x 6″ piece of Baja Breeze Card Stock and score it at 3″. On a scrap piece of Whisper White stamp the swirly branch motif and bird in Basic Black Ink, color it in and punch it out with the 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch. Adhere the scallop circle onto the Baja Breeze Card. With the Trio Flower Punch (retired) punch out Daffodil Delight flowers. With Tombow Multi-Purpose Glue glue down the flower and in the flower center add a Basic Pearl.

For the next card repeat the directions above, using Peach Parfait Card Stock. On a piece of Daffodil Delight stamp the flower shown in Basic Black Ink, cut it out, and with a Dimensional adhere it. On the flower tip add a Basic Pearl.

Again, repeat the general directions using Daffodil Delight Card Stock. Stamp the stem and leaf, the hydrangea shaped flower and butterfly on Whisper White. Punch out a flower with the Trio Punch, glue it down and in the flower center add a Basic Pearl.

Along with the box Stampin’ Up! Mini Square Envelopes were included in the class fee and fit perfectly inside the clear box. These make wonderful gifts themselves or just to have on hand to use as gift cards on all your wrapped presents.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stampin’ Hugs,

As an added bonus just for laughs, here are pictures of John and Paul after a hard day of card-making!

If you know any one who gardens this would be the ideal card to make for them. This like so many of the other cards at my “Garden Workshop” was great fun.

I cut a piece of 5-1/2″x 8-1/2″, scored at 4-1/4″ (apron), a piece of 4″ x 3-3/4″ (pocket) out of Garden Green Card Stock and a 5-1/4″ x 4″ piece of Pretty-in-Pink Card Stock. I traced the apron template on both Garden Green and Pretty-in-Pink and cut out the arm part. I stamped the flower images from the Little Flowers Stamp Set (retired) in Pretty-in-Pink Ink. For the pocket I scored it at 1/2″ for the top flap. I cut three pieces of 1-1/8″ x 1″ from Old Olive Designer Series Paper. Using myCorner Rounder Punch I rounded one bottom corner on two of the decorative pocket squares as well as two corners on the pocket. The next thing I did was with my Crop-A-Dile I punched four small holes, secured four green eyelets and threaded Pretty-in-Pink Grosgrain Ribbon as shown.

Initially all the tools were cut using another die cutting machine other then the Big Shot but, I traced these die images off, made a template for the class and printed it on card stock so all they have to do it cut it out and use it to trace around in the future. The glove I made myself and the seed packet was computer generated. Here is the template for you to print out. I don’t know what scale it will print out in so I’ve included dimensions.

For the center Flower I used my Trio Flower Punch and punched out the largest flower in Garden Green. the smaller Pumpkin Pie Flower is From the Flower Fusion Set which I secured with a green brad. I adhered it with a Dimensional.